It’s hard to write about real hockey stories during the lockout (as evidenced by my massive amount of time dedicated to a Fake Canucks Season). It’s not that the writing itself is hard, it’s just that it becomes tedious, boring, and repetitive to talk about the same issues over and over again. The owners want more money, the players don’t want to give up money, there is only so much you can write about on that same subject (maybe Ryan Kesler can pose nude in an NHLPA headband or something? You guys need to kickstart some momentum here.)

That being said, every once in a while something juicy leaks out and causes all the writers to flock to the information like seagulls at UBC during a lunchtime feeding frenzy (seriously, go to UBC with a piece of bread in your hand at noon. You will come home missing an arm. The seagulls have the taste of human flesh now, I swear to God.) Today’s juicy bit of gossip comes from Deadspin, and I highly recommend you read it if for no other reason it’s something new to talk about.

What is this gossip you ask? Is it about a breakthrough from either side in their stance on hockey related revenue? Is it about the owners offering up an innovative solution to the new CBA? Nope, it’s about….focus groups. Yes, that’s right, the latest news is about how the NHL is spending money, not to create a new CBA, but to win the PR battle.

You can all let out a collective sigh right here. Let’s even add a picture of the amount of facepalming that must be going on right now. Picard and Riker? Where you at?

Internet memes aside, this might be the lowest point of the lockout for me. It’s not that I am naive. I know the NHL is in “big business mode” and there are probably tons of things they do on a daily basis that would make me facepalm. There are probably several decisions they’ve made that were in favor of the business side of things over the hockey side of things, but still. It’s like when you realize Santa isn’t real (please tell me you aren’t a five year old reading my article right now). You know he isn’t real, you’ve come to grips with it, but you still can’t help but be devastated when you walk into the living room and see your dad in his boxers piling presents up under the tree.

This is what this was for me. I walked into my living room and I saw Gary Bettman in his boxers, piling up gifts under the Christmas tree. Giving me some poor excuse about how Santa had to take a day off and he was just filling in for him. And how those presents couldn’t be opened until the NHLPA gave him more money. It just kind of makes me sad about the entire thing.

Sadness aside, there is some interesting stuff in the Deadspin article. There is an entire section in the focus group where they ask people which statements make them feel most negative about the NHL. One of the statements is “NHL owners spent the summer signing star players to massive career-long [contracts]…now want to undo those contracts.” It’s nice to know the NHL is aware of how hypocritical they look at times. When Gary Bettman talks sometimes you wonder if he actually believes his own propaganda, so it’s good to know the NHL behind the scenes knows it sometimes looks like a bunch of goofs. Sadly there was no question in the focus group of “sometimes we fans think the NHL cares TOO much about hockey”, I was kind of hoping the NHL would go that route, but no dice.

In a bit of a somber moment, @Steve_may on twitter was also quick to notice that the NHL probably needs to spend more time on its focus group material:

This was most likely a small oversight, but still, it serves as a sad reminder that the NHL isn’t on top of their game right now. Scrambling to win a PR battle, hiring top Republican strategists, coming up with positive buzz words like “shared sacrifice”? This is not what NHL fans want to see.

Amusingly enough, in an attempt to win the PR battle, these leaked documents will do far more to damage the NHL’s reputation to the common fan. It’s almost amazing how badly the NHL has handled the lockout this time around. I want to blame it on Bettman’s famous quote about hockey having the best fans in the world and how we came back after the last lockout. That is like saying the word “shutout” when the goalie is five minutes away from getting it, you’re just jinxing yourself at that point. I almost expect to see Gary Bettman hold a “Save the Puppies!” day, only to accidentally back over and squish all the puppies in his Hummer when he pulls out to leave the event.

But hey, don’t worry, at least the NHL has 30 new fans. According to the Deadspin article, the 30 people brought in for the focus group left the meeting with “a much better opinion of the owners.” Of course, for all we know, the 30 people brought in were the NHL owners themselves. Nothing would shock me at this point.

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the “X” in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.